


The Duplicator

by Elke Tanzer (elke_tanzer)



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Gen, My First Fanfic, written by my tween self
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1986-07-01
Updated: 1986-07-01
Packaged: 2017-10-02 19:30:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elke_tanzer/pseuds/Elke%20Tanzer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a Solstice gift to my LJ friendslist, I transcribed from an old WordStar printout my very first completed fanfiction. It was written sometime before I turned 13, back in the days before Teh Intarweb... and just after reading New Voyages I and II. Yes, there are some really silly, scary, cringeworthy errors in it, and word choices that are utterly absurd. But I don't think you'll need to squint too hard to see the wee baby fangirl Elke and her protokinks, just waiting to blossom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Duplicator

**Author's Note:**

> Posted to my LJ in December 2004. Here 'tis, folks. Elke's very first finished fanfic, circa... around eighteen years ago, possibly closer to twenty. Yes, there are some really silly, scary, cringeworthy errors in it, and word choices that are utterly absurd. But I don't think you'll need to squint too hard to see the wee baby fangirl Elke and her protokinks, just waiting to blossom.
> 
> I don't much like the writing style, but I still like the idea of the story... especially the parts I didn't get around to writing. And I didn't correct anything when I transcribed this, so it's a true representation. Well, minus the illustrations, which I should scan in at some point.
> 
> Actually, at some point I should MST3K this. And write up at least the list of scenes I wanted to write back then that I didn't have the skill to work into it, though I could see them so clearly in my mind, and still remember them so clearly, even after all this time.
> 
> Hurrah for young fangirls everywhere!

Captain's Log, Star Date 7034.1. En route to Fingel 6, a small mining planet in an obscure star system, to do a routine medical exam, we picked up an extremely strange, garbled distress signal from Captain Geoal of the EXPLORER 5, a small Federation vessel, which normally carries a crew of around two hundred. The distress signal stated that if help did not arrive soon, the EXPLORER 5 would soon destroy itself; however, its record and data pods had already been activated.

"Ahead Warp six, Mr. Sulu," ordered Captain Kirk. He was still pondering the distress signal itself. It was extremely illogical, as his first office, Mr. Spock, had noted. If someone had pressed a delayed self-destruct button, Captain Geoal would have said just that. From experience, Kirk knew that Captain Geoal was very efficient, formal, and a man of very few words. On the other hand, if the EXPLORER 5 was going to be destroyed by another vessel or unnatural phenomenon, the distress signal would not have said that the ship would soon destroy itself. This was a very confusing mess. Nevertheless, the ENTERPRISE was now headed in the direction of the strange signal.

It was a long distance between the ENTERPRISE's original course and the EXPLORER 5's location. Or locations. When the ENTERPRISE had almost reached its destination, Lieutenant Uhura reported that a battle was beginning there.

"I have visuals, Captain."

"Good. Now we can see what is really going on. What in the world..."

On the large screen in front of them were two seemingly identical ships, both firing photon torpedoes at exactly the same moment, as if they were mirror images.

"Report, Mr. Sulu," Kirk was still engulfed by the action on the screen.

"Sir?"puzzled,"Report on what?"

"On those two ships, of course. Are they one or two? What are the names of the vessels? That type of thing." Kirk was back, concentrating on the primary matter at hand, not stopping to wonder what he was saying.

"Highly illogical, Captain. Of course they are two. If you are referring to something as 'they' that infers that the something is plural," Spock intoned.

"Mr. Spock is quite correct there, sir. However, before they were two they were one. The name of the vessel or vessels is EXPLORER 5. At the present rate of firing the two EXPLORER 5s will destroy each other in exactly five point four seven minutes, sir," reported Sulu.

"Captain?"It was Uhura.

"Yes?"

"We are receiving an extremely garbled message, sir. The simple reason for this is that they are coming in from two points near each other and the messages are exactly alike. In short, our receiver is doing a doubletake and it thinks that it is malfunctioning."

"Do you mean to tell me that we are receiving two separate message signals from two separate captains in two separate ships that are identical?" Kirk was fuming.

"Correction, sir," it was Spock."We are receiving two separate signals that are identical from two separate captains that were once one and are now identical but divided, each in a ship that is identical to the other that were once one but are now divided and it is creating general havoc among our circuitboards."

"Thanks for your general assessment of the problem, Mr. Spock. What is the logical way out of this....ahem....mess?"

A small smile jumped across the corners of Uhura's mouth. Kirk was getting information out of Spock with incredible ease today. Wait a minute, this must be impossible, she thought. Out of the garbled message that the receivers were picking up, she heard the familiar frequency tone.

"I have visuals, sir," she managed to get in before Spock started to prescribe treatment.

"What?"

"I said, sir, that I have visual contact."

"And how, may I ask, have you managed that?" the intent gaze of Spock was now upon her. She summoned up all of her spunk for one remark, and it was now or never. She lifted her gaze to meet his and looked him straight in the eye.

"Why, Mr. Spock, I am using a thing called logic. Would you like a demonstration?" Not giving him time to respond, she continued. "You see, when I receive two identical signals through the same receiver, they get garbled. The logical thing to do is to set up another receiver to take over one half of the first one's work load. That way I can split the screen to show both signals simultaneously."

"Quite right, Lieutenant. You are improving nicely. However, you still cannot rival Vulcan Logic." Spock still kept his unemotional mask on, though a tiny, tiny glimmer of amusement flickered in his eyes.

The screen went dark, and then a vertical white dividing line seared down the center of it. On both sides of the line the concerned face of Captain Geoal was saying,"...and so, Captain Kirk, this is what I meant when I said that the EXPLORER 5 would soon destroy itself. I am not certain of what to do next other than to continue firing but..." At that point the screen went dead.

"The signal is gone, Captain," Uhura said quietly."It just vanished. There is nothing I can do about it, sir. They must have stopped transmitting."

"Lieutenant, try contacting either or both of the ships."

"Hailing frequencies open, Captain."

"This is James T. Kirk of the USS ENTERPRISE. Captain Geoal, cease firing or I will be forced to terminate both you and your ship."

"Three minutes until the destruction of both ships, Captain," Sulu reported.

The EXPLORER 5s continued firing photon torpedoes at each other, each trying to get an advantage on other. Spock made an interesting suggestion. "Captain, due to the damage that they are inflicting upon themselves, I believe that their communications are nonexistent. Their transmitters and receivers are not functional."

"Then you are trying to tell me that there is nothing to do but sit and watch them destroy each other?" The Captain was fuming again. "Lieutenant Uhura, send out a sensor beam and find out if Mr. Spock's hypothesis is true."

"Sending sensor beam out."

"Two minutes, sir," Sulu reported.

"Captain, I'm afraid that Mr. Spock's hypothesis is correct. We cannot communicate with either of them. Their damages are identical."

"Spock, could we beam down into one or both of those ships?"

"Affirmative, Captain."

"Would we have a chance of saving those ships and coming out of it alive?"

"It is not probable, Captain."

"One minute, thirty seconds."

"Would it be possible that if one ship stopped firing, the other one might stop also?"

"If I knew what the cause of the duplication was, then I might be able to tell you, sir, but I do not have that information."

"One minute."

"Kirk to transporter room."

"Scott here, sir."

"Prepare to beam one person down to one of the EXPLORER 5s."

"Aye, sir."

"Mr. Spock, you have the con."

"Thirty seconds."

"Captain, There is not time..." But he was already out of the door.

"Mr. Sulu, you have the con." Spock was soon racing down the corridor after the captain. When he reached the transporter room, Kirk was just stepping onto the platform.

"Captain, are you familiar with the content of Star Fleet regulations, Book Five, Sections Six, Paragraph Seven?"

"You would file a Five-Six-Seven on me---for trying to save another Star Fleet ship?"

"No, I would file a Five-Six-Seven on you for risking your life as a Star Fleet Captain for a hopeless cause."

"Kirk to Bridge."

"Uhura here, sir."

"Get me Sulu."

"Sulu here, sir."

"How much time is left?"

"Twelve seconds, sir."

"Thank you. Kirk out. Well, Mr. Spock, you win."

"Excuse me, Captain, but we are not fighting. The EXPLORER 5s are." They walked up to the bridge to see the final moments of the EXPLORER 5s. Soon after the explosions, the ENTERPRISE went to retrieve the record and data pods.

"Captain, there is some sort of large disturbance in the area. The scanners can't seem to determine exactly what it is." said Sulu in a puzzled voice.

"What do you mean? If the scanners can't tell what it is, then how do you know that it's there?" demanded Kirk, still touchy after witnessing the end of the EXPLORER 5s.

"The scanners are picking it up, but first they say that it's one thing and then another. So far, it has been a black hole, a star, a planet, a comet, a white hole, a force field, an asteroid, a magnetic field, a tachyon ray, a white dwarf, a super-symmetrical being, and the sixth dimension, sir."

"Oh."

"It is virtually impossible that all of those could be correct, Captain." put in Spock.

"True. But what is it, really?"

"Regardless of what it is, we must retrieve that last record and data pod so that we can fully understand what happened to the Explorer 5s," said Spock. "It is the logical thing to do."

"Good idea. Ahead Warp one, Mr. Sulu."

"Mr. Spock, keep the sensors on that disturbance, but don't report back to me unless it appears to be necessary. Mr. Sulu, keep the scanners pealed also. Lt. Uhura, find out if it is transmitting any signals."

"It hasn't yet, Captain."

"Then we'll contact them or it or whatever it is."

"Hailing frequencies open, sir."

"Attention: This is Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise. We come in peace. If you can hear this message, then please respond to it. Kirk out."

"Captain, we are being pulled into it by some sort of tractor beam!" exclaimed Sulu.

"Front engines, Warp five, then."

"We aren't pulling away, sir, nor are we holding ground. It's got a complete hold on us and I don't think we can break away."

"Scotty to Bridge. Captain, me engine's power is bein' drained. I can't do nuthin' tuh stop it!"

"I hear you. We have more problems all over. Do you think that you could come up here?"

"Well, if there isn't anything we can do about my engines..."

"No, if you can't fix them, then we certainly can't."

"Oh. I'll be right up. Scotty out."

"Captain," It was Spock. "The computer's power is being drained also."

"What's draining it?"

"I don't know. It is highly probable that it is the disturbance."

"Yes, I thought of that."

"Captain, my scanners are picking up a mirror perfect image of the disturbance directly behind us."

"Sir, I am receiving a signal, but it is not visual."

"Oh, well, let's have it."

"I AM THE DUPLICATOR. YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE TURNED INTO PART OF MY EXPERIMENT. YOU ARE HELPLESS AGAINST ME. SUCCUMB TO YOUR FATE."

The bridge was silent for a moment.

"Who in the world was that?" Scotty said, stepping onto the Bridge.

"Sir," it was Sulu. "The disturbance appears to be shrinking."

"Which one? The one in front of us or the one behind us?"

"The one in front of us, sir."

Uhura interrupted, "Sir, I have visuals on both disturbances." Again the white line seared down the center of the screen. "The right side is the front, and the left is the back." One multi-colored, plasma-like mass appeared on each half of the screen, the one on the right growing increasingly smaller than the other. Soon it was so small that it seemed as if nothing at all was there.

"Is it gone?" the Captain asked quietly.

"Yes, sir. Completely."

"Captain, the disturbance directly behind us is now reducing in size also." Spock said, interrupting Captain Kirk's thoughts. "At this point, I suggest that we turn around one hundred and eighty degrees."

"Why?"

"Because the disturbance behind us is giving off strange signals. It is spherical in shape, while the one in front of us was only one half of a sphere with the rounded side pointed straight towards us. I have a hypoth..."

"Enough. Turn the ship around, Mr. Sulu."

"As I was trying to say, Captain, I have a hypothesis on this subject. If the disturbance is indeed a duplicator, then there should be a perfect copy of the ENTERPRISE directly opposite our position relative to the disturbance."

Uhura interrupted, "Captain, there seems to be a ship on the other side of the disturbance. I have visuals." All that were on the Bridge stood motionless, the silence deepening, as they watched with their eyes rooted to the screen. The plasma-mass was steadily shrinking..... to reveal the proof that verified Mr. Spock's hypothesis.... an exact copy of the ENTERPRISE!!!!!

Captain Kirk awoke with a start to hear the insistent whistling of his communicator. He leaned over and punched the talk button.

It was Lt. Uhura. "I'm sorry to wake you, sir, but I'm receiving an extremely strange, garbled distress signal from a Captain Geoal of the EXPLORER 5. You're needed up here on the Bridge immediately, sir."


End file.
